Variable-speed power-transmission mechanism.



B.F.TEAL, VARIABLE SPEED POWER. TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

APPLIOATION IILED DEG. 27,1906

Patented Dec.29,1908.

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attorneys B. F. TEAL.

VARIABLE SPEED POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.27,1906.

Patented Dec. 29,1908.

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THE NORRIS PETERS co WASHINGTON, D. c.

r wi/tmeooeo 9 355/655 2 30 I iwi/WWW I v a tfozuevp BENJAMIN FRANKLINTEAL, or e znusin's, PENNSYLVANIA.

, viziiismistmb rowE QTRANsMIssION MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 29, 1908.

Application filed. December 27, 1906. Serial No. 349,667.

To all whom it may concerwv 1 H v Be i known that I, BENJAMIN FRANKLINTEAL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Glenside, in thecounty of Montgomery and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Variable- Speed Power-TransmissionMechanism; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact'desoription of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it a pertains to make and use the same. 7

y invention relates to that class of powertransmission mechanism bywhich variations of speed may be effected, and while it is described inthe following specification, more especially as adapted for use onautomobile vehicles, it is intended for general use wherever variablespeed transmission is reguired. Heretofore, in all devices of thisescription, there hasbeen a serious loss of power from the excessivefriction on, the

working parts, especially on=the journals of transmitting rolls, due tothe, great pressure of the rolls on the disks whi'chis necessary to makean effective frictional drive without slippage, and this pressure isexercised equally on the roll journals, thereby so largely afiecting theefficiencyastofrequently render the device inoperative, As in this classof friction devices, thegrip of the transmitting .rolls is similar tothat of a vise, itis of pri; mary importance that the gri be firm, and

practical rigid, to insure .su cient friction to prevent slippage, whichwill invariablyoccur where anelastic or yielding pressure is used. Also,in order to transmit the greatest percentage of the applied power, it isneces: sary to observe the rules deduced from practical experience inpower transmissiomand the best results are obtained through the use of alarge radius of driven pulley in relation to radius of driver. Also, itis of great importance thatthe speed adjustmentbe securely retained,without the possibility of accidental shifting.

One ob'ect of my invention is to combine with the driving and drivendisks, transmitting rolls, and anti-friction bearings for said rolls torelieve friction on the journals of said rolls. A further object is toprovide improved means of control start ng, -sto pping and v ryi g h spd Q 'e S Q 'Afurther; object fsto provide improved means for pos tivey-menus ther l tone from the disks, in order to start and stop thetransmission. v v A further object is to provide improved means forshifting the carr age which carries the transmitting rolls, to vary thes eed of the driven disk, and for automatically l carriage itself inadjusted position.

7 A further object is to e ect improvements in the construction andproportioning of the transmitting rolls and their relation to thedriving and driven disks. p

' A further objectis to provide means to insure perfect alinement of thetwo disks.

In the accompanying drawings,- Figure 1 I is a side elevation of avariable speed power transmission machine embodying my improvements,witha portion of the near side of the casing removed to disclose interiormechanism; Fig 2 is anend elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is partly a toplan vie w and partly a horizontal sectiona view of the same, on aplaneintersecting the axes of the disks and shiftable ower transmittingrolls; 4 is a detail horizontal sectional view, on a larger scale,showing the controller mechan: ism for shifting the carriage in whichthe transmittin rolls are mounted and for automatical y locking saidcarriage in any positionin which the samemay be placed, to

revent the carria e and transmission rolls from moving c'asua ly; andFig. 5 is a detail transversesectional view of the same, taken oFntheplane indicated by, the line b-b of %he casing 1' may. be of the formhere shown, or of any othersuitable form. The driving shaft 2 and drivenshaft 3 are mounted in ball-bearings 4, 5, in the side walls 6 thereof.on the shaft 2 is fixed a disk 7, and on the shaft 3 is fixed a disk 7,said disks being keyed to their respective shafts in a manner to allowfree movement, longitudinally, on said shafts, to secure perfectalinement, and are spaced a art a suitable distance and in the same pane of r0- tation.

In practice, the shaft 2 and its disk 7 are driven by a suitable engineor motor, and for the purposes of this s ecification, I show the drivenshaft 3 provi ed with a pin.- ion Stotransmit ppwer through areversinggear'of suita le construction to an automobile aXle shaft, or othermachine element. -.On the upper or inner side of the .be m 9 Qf'thwa e.e. ar of ner ocking the tudinally-disposed, parallel guides 10, 1].,which are appropriately spaced apart. Said guides have inwardlyextending flanges which bear on the top edges of alongitudinally-movable carriage 12, which travels, between said guideson the bottom of the casing. Said carriage has two"*=pairs or jaws 13.The lower ends of a pair of arms 14-, which are capable of vibratorymovement toward and from each other, are pivotally mounted, as at 15,between the said pairs of jaws. The said arms are disposed on oppositesides of the common plane of the disks 7, 7, and their upper ends areconnected by a right-and-left-hand screw 16, which has at one end anoperating lever 17, said lever having an opening at its lower end forthe reception of said screw and being secured thereto and angularlyadjustable thereon, to compensate for the wear of the screw threads, sothat the said operating lever may be always confined to the same are ofmovement and yet secure the same throw or extent of movement of the armsby thescrew. On the inner sides of the said arms, at a suitable distancefrom their upper ends, are bearing boxes 18, of cylindrical form, theaxes of which are slightly oblique and converge in one direction towardthe common plane of the disks. Said bearing boxes are formed withannular rabbets 19 in their ends, in which are placed bearing cups 20,the outer sides of which are provided with race grooves 21.

Two pairs of power transmitting rolls 22 are mounted in the bearingboxes and by means of the arms 14 and screw 16 may be caused to engagethe sides i the disks to transmit power from the disk 7 to the disk 7.Said pairs of rolls are conical in form to compensate for theirdifferent diameters and each consists of a larger mom ber 22 to operateon the driving disk 7, a smaller member 23 to operate on the driven disk7 an axle 24 connecting them to which they are keyed, and a nut 25screwed on the end of the axle, carrying the smaller roll to hold itfirmly in position. Said roll members are provided on their inner sideswith adjustable cones 26, having race grooves 27 opposed to cups of thebearing boxes 18, and coacting therewith to form annular races forbearing balls 28.

It will be understood that when the transmitting rolls are applied tothe disks, they serve to transmit power from the driving disk to thedriven disk, and that the speed of the latter may be varied at will,without varying the speed of the driving disk, by moving thetransmitting rolls radially on the disks, so that, as they recede fromthe center of one they approach the center of the other. Thetransmitting rolls are thus moved by shifting the carriage by thecontroller mechanism hereinafter described. The action of the screwwhich connects the arms that carry the rolls is positive and efl'ectivein moving the rolls in either direction with respect to the common planeof the disks, but 1. do not confine myself to the use of a screw, as anysuitable device, such as a toggle, will ac complish the purpose. By theprovision of the anti-friction bearings for the transmitting rolls, thecoel'licicnt of friction on the ournals of said rolls is reduced to aminimum, and the friction between the rolls and the disks may beincreased by the action of the arms and screw without appreciably addingto the lead 011 the driving disk. By making the connecting rollsconical, the smaller members 23 of the rolls are adapted to bearproperly upon and for operating the driven disk 7 and at the same time,permitting the employment of disks of the same thickness. Also, thespeed of rotation oi the driven disk is properly reduced as comparedwith the driving disk, and this without having to make the driven diskof unnecessarily large diameter. This is quite an important feature ofthe invention, in that it permits of the device l.:cing made in. morecompact form.

I will now dcscrib 3 my improved cont roller mechanism for shifting thecarriage which carries the trz'rnsmission rolls and, automatically,securely locking the said carriege in any position to which it may leadjusted.

The flange of the guide I] is provided for a suitable distance from oneend with rack teeth 29. A slide 30 is movalle transversely on thecarriage in guides 31 and is provided at one end with rack teeth 32 toengage and disengage with the rack teeth 29. Said slide is provided nearits engaging end with a rectangular recess 33. A T-shapcd dog 331 ispivotally mounted, as at 35, on the car riage. The arms 36 of said dogare disposed in the recess 33, and the arm 37 of the dog has aprojecting pin 38, which operates in a slot 89 in the long arm of abell-crank 40, which is fulcrumed, as at 4], on the guide 10 of thecasing. On the carriage 12 is a lug -12, in which operates an adjustingscrew 42. A spring 43 hears between said screw and the outer end of theslide 30, to engage the teeth of the latter with certain of the teeth olthe guide 11, and to also engage one side of the recess 33 in the slidewita the arms 2'36 of the dog and cause the arm 37 thereof to lieparallel with the slide. A controlling rod -tt is pivotally connected tothe snort arm of the bell crank, and led to any desired position.

The bell crank may he turned in either dircction by means of thecontroller rod. The initial movement of the lcll crank, causes the dog,which is in effect a link l etwcen the bell crank and the slide, topartly turn, so that one of its arms 36 will engage one side of therecess 33 and move the slide, against the pressure of the spring 4-3,out of engagement with the rack on the guide 11, and continned movementof the bell crank in the same direction will cause the slide and hencealso thecarriage to which it is connected, to move longitudinally and.hence shift the transmitting rolls on the disks. As soon as thecontroller rod is released, the spring 43 will reengage the teeth oftheslide'with certain of the teeth of the guide 11, and thereby lock thecarriage in its adjusted position and against casual movement.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the construction and operation of the inventionwill be readily understood without requiring a more extendedexplanation.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to Without departing from the principle, orsacrificing any of the advantages of the invention, as defined by theappended claims.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters-Patent, is,

1. In a variable speed power transmission mechanism, a casing having atoothed rack, a carriage arranged for sliding movement in the casing, alocking slide movably mounted .on the carriage and formed for engagementwith the rack to lock the carriage against movement, means for movingthe slide automatically to locking position, and means adapted byits-continuous movement to both release the slide and to move thecarriage.

2. In a variable speed power transmission mechanism, a casing havinghorizontal guides, one of said. guides being provided with a rack, acarriage 'movably arranged in the casing and engaged with; said guides,a locking slide movably sustained on the carriagp and formed forengagement with' said rac ally to locking position, and means for movingthe slide to releasing position.

3. In variable speed power transmission mechanism, the combination of acasing, driving and driven disks having their shaft bearings therein, acarriage movable on the casing, opposed transmitting rolls, carried bythe carriage to engage said disks, a looking element'mo'rable on andalso with the carriage, a spriiig to normally move said element tolocking position, a bell crank pivotally mounted on the casin and amovable link element connecting t e bell-crank to the locking element,to move the latter to unlocking position.

4. In variable speed power transmission mechanism, the combination of acasing, a fixed rack therein, dri t-ing and driven disks hazing theirshaft bearings in the casing, a carriage movable on the casing, opposedtransmitting rolls, carriedby the carriage,

means for moving the slide automatic-f to engage said disks, a lockingelement movable on and also with the carriage, and having one or morerack teeth to engage the rack of the casing, a spring to normally movesaid element to locking position, a bell-crank pivotally mounted on thecasing, and a movable link element connecting thebellcrank to the slideand operated by the former to move the latter to unlocking positionagainst thepressure of the spring.

5. In variable speed power transmission mechanism, the combination ofdriving and driven disks, transmittin rolls pivotally mounted laterally,inovab e elements having bearings for the rolls, a right-and-lefthandscrew engaging and connecting said movable'elements to positively movesaid rolls to and from the disks, and an operating lever for said screwadjustably secured thereto.

6. In variable speed power transmission mechanism, the combination ofdriving and driven disks, and opposed conical transmitting rollsconnecting them and having their apex oblique to the common plane of thedis s, each of said rolls having a larger member to engage the drivingdisk and a smaller member to engage the driven disk.

7. In variable speed power transmission mechanism, the combination of adriving and a driven disk, with their respective shafts, said disksbeing keyed to said shafts and freely movable, longitudinally thereon,

two pairs of opposed transmitting rolls of.

different diameters, and means for moving said rolls to engaging anddisengaging positions, and means for adjusting the osition of said rollsbetween the centers of said disks, and automatically locking them in theadjusted position.

8. In variable speed power transmission mechanism, the combination ofdriving and driven disks, transmitting rolls to rigidly engage saiddisks, a carriage for said rolls,

and means to shift said carriage and lock the carriage itself whenadjusted, against casual movement.

9.. In variable speed'power transmission mechanism, the combination ofdriving and (hi en disks, transmitting rolls to rigidly engagesaiddisks, a carriage for said rolls, means to shift said carriage, andmeans coacting with said carriage shifting means, to lock the carriage,when adjusted, against casual movement.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TEAL.

Witnesses:

JosEPH J. LAWLEss, MAMIE E. TATHAM.

